Services of state-owned banks are expected to be impacted on Wednesday due to a nation-wide strike call given by unions to protest the proposed amalgamation of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda to reduce their bad loans. This will be the second bank strike in less than a week.

Close to 60,000 employees and officers of nationalised banks in Gujarat will join their 10 lakh brethren across the nation. They say the ultimate aim behind the amalgamation move is to privatise nationalised banks. Bank transactions worth Rs 15,000 crore are likely to be derailed because of the strike.

However, alternate channels such as ATMs, net banking and mobile banking will continue as usual. Most of the banks have already informed customers about the strike. Private sector banks will continue to function as usual.

Nation-wide, the strike is organised by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine unions, including the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW). The UFBU claims membership of 10 lakh officers and staffers.

In Ahmedabad, bank employees will hold protests and demonstrations at the Ashram Road branch of Bank of Baroda at 10.30 am. The strike is led by Mahagujarat Bank Employees Association (MGBEA), supported by the All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA).

"In a country like ours," says Janak Raval, general secretary of MGBEA, which is affiliated to All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), "what we need is an expansion of the banking sector and not amalgamation and consolidation. Banking density in India is one of the lowest in the world. The merger of banks or amalgamation of banks to consolidate the sector is unnecessary and illogical."

MGBEA says there is no evidence that consolidation would benefit the banking sector. "Even the mega-merger of six associated banks with the State Bank of India last year has not benefited SBI," said the MGBEA in a statement, "Instead, SBI has had to close branches and restructure operations, and also has the added stress of bad loans. It has slipped into losses after the merger. We are also witnessing shrinkage in employment potential in SBI because the merger has resulted in surplus staff."

According to AIBEA General Secretary C H Vekatachalam, the conciliation meeting called by Additional Chief Labour Commissioner did not lead to any assurance and so the unions are going ahead with the strike.